2014-15 Cambridge Concert Series
“It is this spirit of adventure that has won Britten Sinfonia a reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-thinking musical ensembles.”
Britten Sinfonia © Harry Rankin Britten Sinfonia © Harry Rankin
Financial Times
“Fun; totally absorbing; and breath-taking! Britten Sinfonia make the unfamiliar immediate and the familiar startlingly fresh.” Cambridge audience member
This season we perform music spanning 500 years in the company of extraordinary collaborators from across the musical spectrum, with concerts that often surprise and always illuminate. Enjoy classics by Purcell, Mozart and Beethoven; be there for the very latest new works; discover lesser known gems by Berg, Crawford Seeger and Copland – all programmed in a way where one piece enlightens the other, building unexpected bridges and a refreshing musical alchemy. Featured collaborators include two celebrated singers Sarah Connolly and Barbara Hannigan, and our own Nicholas Daniel, Thomas Gould and Jacqueline Shave. We have major premieres from established composers including Kaija Saariaho, Joey Roukens and James MacMIllan’s eagerly awaited St. Luke Passion, which we will present in the ideal setting of King’s College Chapel on Good Friday.
Our award-winning BBC Radio 3 lunchtime series continues with five concerts and there’s a host of events being run by our Creative Learning department including a family concert – I Want My Hat Back – based on Jon Klassen’s popular picture book, which was such a hit when we performed it at last year’s BBC Proms. In short, a season of concerts and projects to relish and inspire, and on behalf of all the musicians at Britten Sinfonia, we very much look forward to welcoming you to our Cambridge season. David Butcher Chief Executive, Britten Sinfonia
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KALEIDOSCOPES “Some of the best oboe playing you’ll hear anywhere”
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BBC Record Review
Friday 3 October 2014 West Road Concert Hall 7.30pm Nicholas Daniel oboe / director Jacqueline Shave violin / director Mozart Adagio for string trio and cor anglais Kurtág arr. Thomas Adès In Memoriam András Mihály Lutosławski Preludes and Fugue Tavener Kaleidoscopes That ‘most inexplicable’ of composers is how the late John Tavener once described his great hero Mozart whose poignant Adagio opens a concert which explores sounds and spaces to great theatrical effect.
Tavener’s own oboe concerto, Kaleidoscopes is the centrepiece of this concert in what would have been the composer’s 70th year. Written for Britten Sinfonia and Nicholas Daniel in 2006, Kaleidoscopes places the soloist at the heart of four string quartets (north, south, east and west) and percussion including the haunting sound of temple bowls. Lutosławski’s playful Preludes and Fugue for 13 solo strings and Thomas Adès’s arrangement of Kurtág’s tribute to Hungarian composer András Mihály, which sees the musicians perform in different parts of the auditorium, complete the programme. £30, £25, £15 In Conversation 6.30pm Nicholas Daniel and Jacqueline Shave discuss tonight’s programme Supported by the Friends of Britten Sinfonia
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JOHN WOOLRICH AT 60 h© lric oo nW Joh
Friday 21 November 2014 West Road Concert Hall 7.30pm Sophie Bevan soprano Thomas Gould violin / director Clare Finnimore viola Duncan Ward conductor* Purcell arr. John Woolrich Three Songs Wolf arr. John Woolrich Italian Songs John Woolrich Ulysses Awakes Stravinsky Eight Instrumental Miniatures* Mozart Per pieta, non ricercate Stravinsky Dumbarton Oaks* John Woolrich Violin Concerto
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A concert marking the 60th birthday of one of Britten Sinfonia’s close friends, distinguished composer and programmer, John Woolrich. Joining the party are celebrated young soprano Sophie Bevan and two established soloists from within Britten Sinfonia: Clare Finnimore, who is soloist in Ulysses Awakes, and Thomas Gould who performs Woolrich’s dynamic and lyrical Violin Concerto. £30, £25, £15 Pre-concert event 6.15pm The young musicians of Britten Sinfonia Academy take to the stage in this pre-concert event featuring pieces by John Woolrich alongside a discussion with the composer.
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Sunday 18 January 2015 West Road Concert Hall 7.30pm Sarah Connolly mezzo soprano Jacqueline Shave violin / director Carter Elegy for Strings Rodney Bennett A History of the Thé Dansant Copland Appalachian Spring Crawford Seeger Andante for Strings Copland Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson American music is something of a giant melting pot, an exhilarating blend of wide open spaces, dance rhythms, traditional hymn tunes, and jazz, with composers often taking something of what was happening across the pond in Europe and carving out an identity of their own.
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Aaron Copland, a pioneering figure, established an American sound-world particularly evident in his enduringly popular Appalachian Spring. His admiration for the poet Emily Dickinson is demonstrated in his setting of eight of her poems performed by acclaimed mezzo Sarah Connolly. Completing the programme are works by Copland’s contemporaries, the visionaries Ruth Crawford Seeger, Elliot Carter and surrogate New Yorker, Richard Rodney Bennett. £30, £25, £15 In Conversation 6.30pm Sarah Connolly discusses tonight’s programme
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FAMILY CONCERT
I WANT MY HAT BACK “My children and I were spell bound. Hannah Conway was totally and utterly brilliant”
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Audience member following Britten Sinfonia’s Mr Big family concert.
Saturday 7 February 2015 West Road Concert Hall 2pm and 4pm Hannah Conway composer / presenter
The bear’s hat is gone, and he wants it back! Following it’s premiere at the BBC Proms join Britten Sinfonia and presenter Hannah Conway for this interactive family concert based on Jon Klassen’s charming picture book, I Want My Hat Back. Featuring music by Debussy, Beethoven, Elgar and Gershwin plus songs to sing-a-long to, this colourful performance is a perfect introduction to orchestral music for the young. £10 adults / £8 under 16s (Suitable for children aged 3-7) Concert duration: approx. 60mins
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MACMILLAN’S ST LUKE PASSION © an illi cM Ma es m Ja
Good Friday 3 April 2015 King’s College Chapel 7.30pm James MacMillan conductor Britten Sinfonia Voices Choristers of King’s College Choir, Cambridge James MacMillan St Luke Passion
Britten Sinfonia continues its close relationship with Scottish composer James MacMillan with an Easter performance of his St Luke Passion which takes as its starting point the passage in the Gospel of Luke describing the suffering and death of Jesus. MacMillan’s musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music. £30, £25, £15 (£5 unsighted seats) Co-promoted by Britten Sinfonia and Easter at King’s.
Musically Gifted
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Musically Gifted
Support James MacMillan’s Musically new work – for more info visit Gifted www.musicallygifted.org.uk Buy a gift and create new music
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SONGS OF VIENNA “A singer blessed with an amazing soprano voice and full artistic incorruptibility”
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Berliner Zeitung
Saturday 2 May 2015 West Road Concert Hall 7.30pm Barbara Hannigan soprano / conductor Richard Strauss Dance from Capriccio (1941) Schoenberg Six pieces for piano duet Berg Hier ist Friede Chausson Chanson Perpetuelle Johann Strauss arr. Schoenberg Lagunen-Walzer Mahler Piano Quartet in A minor Schoenberg String Quartet No.2
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“Decadent and dripping with passion” – this is how Barbara Hannigan described the works in this programme from the late romantic period. The feeling of love, loss and longing is common in the works of the composers featured in this concert culminating in Schoenberg’s iconic second string quartet, written as he was on the verge of making his break from tradition into dissonance. £30, £25, £15 In Conversation 6.30pm Members of Britten Sinfonia discuss tonight’s programme
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BRITTEN SINFONIA AT LUNCH 1pm
West Road Concert Hall
Escape the day’s routine for an hour and listen to principal players from Britten Sinfonia perform specially selected chamber masterpieces, alongside new works co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia and Wigmore Hall. £9 (£3 under 18s and students) Subscribe to Britten Sinfonia’s evening concerts and pay just £6 for At Lunch tickets. See page 12 for further details
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At Lunch 1
Tuesday 2 December 2014
At Lunch 3
1pm
Tuesday 10 February 2015
Emer McDonough flute Nicholas Daniel oboe Joy Farrall clarinet Stephen Bell horn Sarah Burnett bassoon
Jacqueline Shave, Miranda Dale violins Clare Finnimore, Catherine Musker violas Caroline Dearnley cello
Michael Berkeley Re-Inventions Crawford Seeger Suite for wind quintet Patrick John Jones (OPUS2014 Winner) New work (World premiere tour) Nielsen Wind quintet
At Lunch 2
Tuesday 13 January 2015
1pm
Vaughan Williams Phantasy for string quintet Ben Comeau New work (World premiere tour) (winner of Cambridge University Composers Workshop) Beethoven Quintet in C major Op.29 “The Storm”
At Lunch 4
Tuesday 10 March 2015
1pm
Jacqueline Shave violin Caroline Dearnley cello Huw Watkins piano Debussy Sonata for cello and piano Kaija Saariaho Piano Trio (UK premiere tour) Kaija Saariaho Nocturne for solo violin Faure Piano Trio
Thomas Gould violin Huw Watkins piano Caroline Dearnley cello Owen Gunnell percussion
1pm
Lou Harrison Varied Trio for violin, piano and percussion Joey Roukens New work (World premiere tour) Shostokovich Piano Trio No.2 Op.67
At Lunch 5
Tuesday 30 June 2015
1pm
Britten Sinfonia Academy and members of Britten Sinfonia Programme to include Iain Farrington New work (World premiere tour)
At Lunch 1-4 concerts are recorded for future broadcast by
Musically Gifted
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Musically Gifted
Support the new works in our Musically At Lunch series – for more info d Gifte visit www.musicallygifted.org.uk Buy a gift and create new music
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CREATIVE LEARNING Our Creative Learning programme roots us proudly in the east of England, where we engage schools, families and communities in diverse and inspiring high-quality professional music making, all year round. We are committed to forming long-term relationships with key partners, such as the Cambridgeshire Music Education Hub, schools and other cultural organisations. This season, in the Cambridgeshire area, we will be focusing on:
Britten Sinfonia Academy Now in its third year, the academy has established itself as a pioneering youth ensemble for the most talented classical musicians of secondary school age from the east of England. Following a series of successful courses, collaborations and performances in Cambridge last year, the academy looks forward to exciting new projects in 2014-15 including a new commission by Iain Farrington.
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Link Ensemble This new creative ensemble, in partnership with sTART and Orchestras Live, will give children with special educational needs in South Cambridgeshire the opportunity to compose and devise new music alongside peers and professional musicians. This pilot project will create a blueprint for creating a truly inclusive music for mixed ability groups.
Cambridge Music Education Hub As a strategic partner, Britten Sinfonia will be helping Cambridge Music Education Hub to ensure that more children and young people have access to high quality music experiences. Our musicians will be delivering a series of bespoke projects, including specialist ensemble coaching and creative composition workshops.
Family Concerts We continue to devise and perform original and exciting orchestral concerts, especially for a family audience. This season we introduce I Want My Hat Back, based on Jon Klassen’s award-winning picture book, presented by composer Hannah Conway.
Cambridge University Our longstanding partnership, as orchestrain-residence, with the Cambridge University Music Faculty continues to grow, with a commitment to young composers and performers. Projects will include coaching sessions with their University orchestras, and composition masterclasses.
Creative Learning At Lunch We regularly visit secondary schools for half day workshops in order to make the repertoire we play accessible to younger audiences. These workshops introduce the repertoire in a creative and interactive way, before inviting a school class to attend a Britten Sinfonia At Lunch concert.
(see page 5 for full details)
For more information please visit www.brittensinfonia.com/creative-learning
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BOOKING INFORMATION Tickets Please see individual concerts for ticket prices Season Subscription Offer Book for all five evening concerts at the same time and save 20% Season subscribers also enjoy an annual reception and £6 tickets for Britten Sinfonia At Lunch concerts Concessions • Evening concerts: Under 18s and full-time students – all tickets £5 (must show valid ID) • At Lunch concerts: Under 18s and full-time students – all tickets £5 (must show valid ID) • Jobseekers – all tickets £5 (must show valid ID) • Patrons with a disability are eligible to a free companion ticket if they require a carer to accompany them. Please note there is limited space for wheelchair users. • Please note only one concession applies per customer.
How to book In person Cambridge Corn Exchange, Wheeler Street, CB2 3QB (Box Office open Monday to Saturday 12noon6pm. Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays) By phone 01223 357851 (Phone lines open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm. Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays) Online www.brittensinfonia.com Tickets can be posted at a cost of £1 or collected in person. Refunds Britten Sinfonia has a no refunds policy. Schools & Families We welcome school groups and families to all our concerts. For discounted tickets, schools’ programme notes and additional benefits please contact our Creative Learning team. Venue Information West Road Concert Hall 11 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP www.westroad.org West Road Concert Hall is fully accessible and there are hearing loops. King’s College Chapel King’s Parade, Cambridge, CB2 1ST www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel
All information and booking fees correct at time of going to press. Britten Sinfonia reserves the right to make changes to advertised programmes and artists as necessary.
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THERE ARE MANY WAYS YOU CAN JOIN US OUTSIDE OF THE CONCERT HALL AND BECOME MORE INVOLVED IN BRITTEN SINFONIA AND ITS WORK. Britten Sinfonia Online • Join in the conversation via Twitter and Facebook @brittensinfonia facebook.com/brittensinf • Sign up for our monthly eBulletins for the latest news and behind the scenes stories • Visit our website for a whole host of videos, podcasts, programme notes and news Play Your Part From as little as £50 you can get closer to the orchestra by joining Britten Sinfonia’s circle of friends.
Musically Gifted Costing from just £10 you can take an active part in helping create new music by some of the world’s greatest composers through our Musically Gifted scheme. www.musicallygifted.org.uk
Say Hello You will always be able to find a Britten Sinfonia staff member at a concert – why not come and say hello and give us your feedback.
Mailing list Join our mailing list and we’ll send you regular information about forthcoming events and concerts.
Design: carly.merrydew@gmail.com
Britten Sinfonia 13 Sturton Street Cambridge CB1 2SN Telephone: 01223 300795 Email: info@brittensinfonia.com www.brittensinfonia.com Chief Executive: David Butcher Chairman: Stephen Bourne Registered Charity No. 291245
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